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At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

An odd woman takes her girlfriend to stay at her place in the country, but a former girlfriend has something to say about that ...Slow and creepy mystery. The atmosphere is set perfectly by photography and music, but especially through the overgrown lakeside estate from the early '70s, when locations were cheap. I'm not sure this is a horror - it does dabble in the ghostly, but really it's all about psychosis - although the gore is effective: films from this era relished their stabbing scenes, and the crunchy-cabbage sound effects in this one got me every time.The lead actress is excellent, and the performances all round are good, but the big drawback is in the character of the odd-job man: the performance is a little awkward, and the purpose of the character turns out mundane, missing the opportunity to make this a true horror, where things turn inside out and the past becomes cosmic truth. Ahem. In the end it's just a tale of bloody madness temporarily disturbing the surface of normality.Music sets the tone. Photography is mostly delicious, and the house and lake take on real character.Overall: Nicely disturbing, but falls short.

"Symptoms" follows a paper-thin plot line that details a woman who invites a girlfriend to her remote mansion for the weekend, but her true motives come into focus as something far more sinister than imagined. Originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival, "Symptoms" inexplicably became a lost a film in the ensuing years, until being unearthed and re-released on Blu-ray for the twenty-first century.To put it plainly, if you're looking for a film where things "happen," then look elsewhere. This is a film that never quite entirely gets onto its feet, and instead wallows in its own mysteriousness and atmosphere—and the atmosphere is laid on thick. The camera meditates on the foggy England backwoods, the swampy lake that holds dark secrets, and the dilapidated mansion that is quite literally engulfed in trees and foliage. If nothing else, "Symptoms" is a mood piece, and a fantastic one at that.Given its sparse scripting, the film demands top-notch acting from its performers, and the audience gets as much with Angela Pleasence in the lead role of the mysterious, violent hostess. She is vulnerable and simultaneously terrifying, and has a compelling screen presence. Lorna Heilbron matches Pleasence as the seductive and insouciant house guest. Writer-director José Ramón Larraz, who is perhaps best known for his over-the-top lesbian vampire flick "Vampyres," has a consistent style established with this film, and his vision comes across on screen very strongly. Given his notoriety for the aforementioned film, the natural expectation I had for this was along the lines of an exploitation film, but it is far, far from it—it's actually a classy, quiet, and ominous meditation on broken femininity, at times evoking Robert Altman's "Images" or 1971's "Let's Scare Jessica to Death." It is part horror film and part psychological character study, moving along in that order; after the first dramatic scene of violence, the film and its heroine unravel before the audience, and the result is nothing short of compelling.Overall, "Symptoms" is a phenomenal and under-appreciated horror film. Its status as a lost film has no doubt robbed it of the wider contemporary audience it deserves, but hopefully the re-release of it will attract modern genre fans. I was blown away by the nuance and all-around skillfulness of it. It's a quietly spooky and wildly atmospheric film that is well-acted and well-shot. Truly something to behold for fans of understated cinema. 9/10.

José Ramón Larraz will always be best remembered for his excellent 1974 lesbian vampire flick Vampyres; and for good reason since its his best film, but it wasn't the only film he made in 1974 - he also made a Spanish film called "Emma, Dark Doors" - which I haven't seen (nor did anyone else it would seem), but it does look interesting. Oh, and he also made this little British film 'Symptoms' and I'm not surprised to find that this one isn't too well seen either as despite some interesting elements; it's all a bit dull and doesn't have a great deal going for it. The film takes place in the English countryside and focuses on a mansion. A young woman gets an invitation to stay there as the mansion is owned by her friend, and accepts. However, her stay at the mansion takes a turn for the strange and the woman soon realises that neither her friend - nor the mansion itself - is quite what it seems.I can't really say I'm a fan of José Ramón Larraz - mostly due to films like The House That Vanished and Black Candles. The director clearly has a good eye for atmosphere but unfortunately the same cant be said for his plotting and Symptoms' main problem is undoubtedly the lack of intrigue. The film does benefit from the presence of Angela Pleasance; Donald's daughter has a very creepy screen presence and the director was obviously keen to capitalise on that as much as possible. The setting is good and the isolation of it all benefits the film in terms of atmosphere. However, the fact is that the story doesn't really go anywhere for large periods of the film. It's obvious that the director was trying to build up steam for the ending, but I was starting to lose interest long before then. It's a shame actually as well because the ending of the film is actually rather good and would have worked well with a more interesting build up. Many people consider this to be the director's second best film; and actually I agree with that, but that's more because Larraz's other films are so bad rather than because this one is good.

First of all I love pretty explicit and audacious lesbian vampire flick "Vampyres"(1974),but more rare and obscure "Symptoms" is even better and certainly different in tone.It's a very subtle,calm and restrained horror film with plenty of mysterious atmosphere.Helen Ramsey arrives back from Switzerland to her old-fashioned family home,accompanied by a friend Ann West.It quickly becomes clear that Helen suffers from a nervous disposition.At night both Helen and Ann hear voices in the house and Helen seems convinced that there is something in the attic,a trap door to which is in the ceiling in a corner of her room."Symptoms" is a genuinely frightening horror film about a woman slowly slipping completely into madness.The cinematography is striking,the interior sets are terrifyingly dark and the acting by Angela Pleasence is fantastic.I fell in love with this film and can't praise it enough.